The present invention relates to call center packet routing, and more particularly to electronic-commerce and other consumer-based services conducted via Internet Call Centers.
As Internet-based services continue to evolve, many businesses and other Enterprises are aggressively developing Internet-based access methods through which their callers and customers may access their services, request information, and collaborate with agents utilizing voice and data applications in concert with one another. These sessions are typically initiated from the caller""s web-browser via a contact request. Many Enterprises, because they are extremely large, because they experience a substantial call capacity, or because they are geographically diverse, maintain more than one Internet Call Center to process callers"" browser-initiated contact requests. Enterprises which maintain multiple Internet Call Centers are highly motivated to provide the most effective and efficient Call Center services possiblexe2x80x94Enterprise-widexe2x80x94since there is a strong correlation between quality of customer service and the quantity of repeat business. Quality of service, in turn, is dependent upon directing callers to the appropriate web-based applications, the appropriate Call Center, and the appropriate agent for servicing a call. However, current browser-launched applications are reliant upon static routing mechanisms, in which the caller typically clicks on a graphical user-interface button associated with a particular Enterprise web-page and is directed to a predefined Call Center, application, or other service; regardless of whether the caller would receive improved quality of service from an alternative Call Center within the Enterprise-wide group of Call Centers.
Internet Call Center quality of service is efficiently and effectively enhanced by directing all caller"" browser-initiated contact requests to a single Internet Interface Controller. Upon receiving a caller""s contact request, rules-based routing is applied at the Internet Interface Controller to determine the Call Center, from among the Enterprise-wide domain of Call Centers, best suited for servicing the call. A pre-routed contact request is created identifying the Call Center best suited for servicing the call as the appropriate destination Call Center and a call session is then established between the caller and the appropriate destination Call Center.
The rules bases, with which the Internet Interface Controller determines individual routing decisions, is shaped according to the specific needs, priorities, and capabilities of the Enterprise""s Call Centers. In one example of an application of the present invention in which it is desired to minimize the total amount of time the caller waits in queue before an agent becomes available, the caller is directed to the Call Center, from among the Enterprise-wide domain of Call Centers, having the shortest queue of callers on hold. In a second example illustrating the application of the present invention, when it is imperative to utilize the special talents or expertise of an agent or agents available only at a particular Call Center, the caller is directed to that particular Call Center, regardless of other considerations, such as length of caller queue.